""Cheers!""
The nezuras followed with a cheery squeak as they held out their drinks.
And as the glasses were raised in the air, a single ascending firework whistled sharply into the starry sky, blooming into an outlined image of rats and rabbits binding their hands together. Soon afterwards, many other fireworks followed suit in a festive barrage.
"AND NOW WE SHALL FEAST!"
The cheer for the start of the feast was much louder than the celebration for the new year.
And despite the theme of holiday, the xmas tree remains firm at the center of the kingdom.
Thanks to the addition of nezuras, the kingdom was able to achieve more things that had been queued in the long long list of technological and infrastructural advancement.
The terraced agriculture project was running smoothly. Marshmallow even wanted to attempt aeroponic agriculture next if given the suitable plants and material.
Not to mention, the multi-residential housing project was also a smooth success, as a massive building with five stories and at least 20 rooms each floor had been integrated into the infrastructure of the kingdom. The building was also close to the established pantry and cafeteria area for easier everyday access.
It was also facilitated with toilets and a proper sewage system. The insulation was also not a complication with how the traits of the building material could be manipulated by the nezuras. At the same time, the priest of the nezuras had already blessed the building to have a shared temperature and it can be changed depending on the needs of every residential room.
The production sector on the west had been greatly upgraded to accommodate all sorts of material processing. From the making of ceramics, to the tempering of steel. It would only be a matter of time until the kingdom needed to integrate electricity to further advance within the technological tree.
The nezuras ability to bend, reinforce, levitate, weaken, and morph objects was a godsend of an ability when combined with the knowledge of modern human technology. There was a fear that the addition of the nezuras would affect the growth of the usalians, but it doesn't seem to be the case.
Whatever the hell that Hoppington instigated to the usalians had led them into a better path. Some of the usalian felt the need to challenge to surpass the nezura's level of productivity, which led to a greater stress and stimulant to grow their lineage even further.
Some of the usalians even began to take a firm specializing in their own field after most of the grunt work was replaced by the nezuras, such as using their extra time to push the advancement of the the memory tree to gain greater insight, and innovating a new methods from an already established modern knowledge that was provided.
"Nice shot! Now move away and let the next person shoot! Remember, trigger discipline!"
A quick concussive shockwave barrage was released, as the explosive cracks of the compressed gasses were dispersing immediately after it started.
It took a full 5 days of training and research until Droste and the vanguards were able to develop a modern smokeless gunpowder. It was all thanks to the seven super-nezuras that were trained to create a direct transesterification reaction using their telekinesis to harvest a glycerol and ester, without alcohol and alkaline catalyst. In which they managed to accidentally produce a form of biodiesel fuel as a byproduct.
Usually, it was the other way around.
"...!" Jingo could be seen sparkling as she waited her turn for the recreational shooting range.
After the glycerol was harvested, it was then nitrated using nitric acid with the help of their telekinetic power, to produce what was called nitroglycerin.
"Huwaa, they are very loud." Bluebell commented as she got startled every time a trigger was released.
After the nitroglycerin was made, the next thing to do was to make nitrocellulose, also known as cellulose nitrate, flash paper, flash cotton, guncotton, pyroxylin and flash string, depending on form.
Nitrocellulose is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to a mixture of nitric acid and sulfuric acid. As in this case, the cotton harvested from seripium was used as the cellulose.
Making these raw ingredients is fraught with danger, since each one of them is an explosive, and then they have to be mixed with extreme care. This requires some equipment that will blend them together while being gentle about it, with just the right amount of solvent is needed to make the mix work well. Albeit, for Droste and vanguard's case, they had seven nezuras and their telekinetic ability to do it.
Once the mixture is made, it is extruded through a hole-filled plate and cut off to the right length to be formed into balls. This is done by running the extruded pieces through a group of tubes that bounce them off one another and make them round.
It was then run through a set of rollers to flatten them out and make them look like really small black pancakes. Something that an usalian can do without the power of telekinetic. Although telekinetic power made the process even power.
Once the micro pancakes are made, it needs to be dried out. The telekinetic power of the nezuras was able to hasten this process.
This whole development to produce the smokeless gunpowder was something that even numerous chemists in history were troubled with before they were able to make the right formula.
It needs the right amount of nitrogen in the guncotton or it will make the powder either too hot, or not burn well enough. It also needs to have just the right amount of nitroglycerin or the resulting gunpowder might blow up the gun.
And thus, the DP-101 Rifle was born.
It was a single bolt-action musket meant to be the experimental foundation of the kingdom's firearm. But because the facility to produce the steel and components had just been erected just a day ago, there were only 6 of these rifles made within the kingdom.
Hence why everyone was lining up to try shooting with it.
"I still can't believe that we managed to develop firearms this early." Charles commented as she laughed. "Hah! We might as well start making factories after this."
Hoppington smiled still with her half-lidded gaze. "Give your praise to the seven nezuras that are able to make this a reality."
In the background, those sevens nezuras could be seen given achievement medals by Nagan and Owen on the podium, as the audience cheered louder than the occasional barrage of gunfire.
Yet, even though the smokeless gunpowder had only just been made yesterday, how come there was a gunshot after gunshot echoing through the starry night?
It was as Droste told the vanguards six days ago.
A devilish deal was made.